A martyrium (Latin) or martyrion (Greek), sometimes anglicized martyry, is a church or shrine built over the tomb of a Christian martyr. It is associated with a specific architectural form, centered on a central element and thus built on a central plan, that is, of a circular or sometimes octagonal or cruciform shape.
The largely 5th-century interior of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome
The symbolic meaning of the dome has developed over millennia. Although the precise origins are unknown, a mortuary tradition of domes existed across the ancient world, as well as a symbolic association with the sky. Both of these traditions may have a common root in the use of the domed hut, a shape which was associated with the heavens and translated into tombs.
The Green Dome built above the tomb of Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Umar in the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina, Saudi Arabia, dates back to at least the 12th century.